The Department of Biochemical Engineering & Biotechnology at IIT Delhi has a unique place in the development of biochemical engineering discipline in India. The Institute took an early note of the significant role that was to be played by biochemical engineers and biotechnologists in future industrial development of biotechnology-related processes and products by initiating this activity in 1968. At present, the Department provides a model for an integrated approach towards education as well as research and development of various bioprocesses.

The department seeks applicants for faculty positions, particularly at the Assistant Professor level, across all areas of Biochemical Engineering and Biotechnology. The applicants must be B.Tech in Chemical or Biochemical Engineering.

Applicants should submit a curriculum vitae, a research statement, a teaching statement, three recent publications, and complete contact information for at least three references. The Faculty Search Committee of the Department meet regularly to consider the applications and arrange for invited seminars and/or interviews as and when the need arises. Please write to the Head of the Department for specific information.

The department offers postdoctoral positions for aspiring young PhD degree holders to pursue independent research.
For more information, click here.

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Biofuel from Barapullah drain sewage

Our departmental faculty Profs. Sreekrishnan and Ziauddin S. Ahammad are involved in a first-of-its-kind initiative in the country, wastewater from drains will be used to produce biofuel. Science and technology minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan launched this project on September 18, 2018, wherein a plant with a capacity of 10 lakh litres per day will be set up to produce biofuel by treating sewer water from the Barapullah drain. For more information, click here click here.

Our student Jaen Hyun Kim featured in a newspaper article

Our departmental B.Tech student Mr. Jaen Hyun Kim (2017BB10011), originally from Seoul, South Korea, was featured in a newspaper article on Sep 11, 2018. In the article, Jae Hyun Kim shares his experience of schooling in India post class VI and how he prepared for the JEE (Advanced) to join in IIT Delhi. For more information, click here click here.

Cancer warriors

Research conducted in the laboratory of Prof. D. Sundar was featured in THE WEEK mgazine on July 29, 2018. The article was titled 'Cancer warriors' and featured the work on natural products as sources of new drugs being explored by the group. For more information, click here click here

By the side of a dirty Delhi drain, an Indo-Dutch hunt for a cleaning solution

Research conducted in the laboratory of Prof. Shaikh Z Ahammad was featured in the Indian Express spotlight on July 24, 2018. The departmental faculty Profs. T.R. Sreekrishnan and Shaikh Z. Ahammad are leading this indo-Dutch project called LOTUS HR (Local Treatment of Urban Sewage Streams for Healthy Reuse) to test technologies that target, apart from conventional contaminant parameters like biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), pH value, etc., "contaminants of emerging concern" such as pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs), the effects of which were until recently only poorly understood.. For more information, click here click here

IIT researchers develop promising TB diagnostics solution

Research conducted in the laboratory of Prof. Ravikrishnan Elangovan was featured in the Economic Times spotlight on July 22, 2018. The group has developed two low-cost, low-maintenance diagnostic tech tools that could potentially help diagnose tuberculosis cheaper, faster and better even in remote locations. For more information, click here click here

Bioinformatics Retreat

A retreat to discuss Bioinformatics learning, education and training was organized by the Department on April 28, 2018. For Program, Click here.

TEQIP-3 course on Microbial Diversity for Human Welfare

Profs. Shilpi Sharma and Preeti Srivastava coordiated a Short Term Course on 'Microbial Diversity for Human Welfare' under the aegis of 'Technical Education Quality Improvement Program (TEQIP-III)' during April 9-11, 2018 in the Department. For Flyer, Click here.

Star of our Department

Our B.Tech student Mr. Vinay Kamju (2014BB10042) has secured All India Rank # 7 in Graduate Aptitute Test in Engineering (GATE-2018) in Biotechnology paper. He joins a group of other students from IIT Delhi who have topped in GATE-2018. For more information, click here Toppers.

Smart gadget can detect TB in an hour

Research conducted in the laboratory of Prof. Ravikrishnan Elangovan in collaboration with Jamia Hamdard University and ICMR was featured in the Times of India spotlight on March 04, 2018. TThe group has developed 'iMC2 TB Test', which may soon be a cost-effective, time-saving gadget to detect Mycobacterium tuberculosis and promises to bring down the detection time from four days to an hour. For more information, click here link 1, link 2

Prof. P.K. Roychoudhury passes away

PhD student from the department bags best Oral Presentation prize

Ms. Jaspreet Kaur Dhanjal (2013BEZ8509), PhD student of the department won the second best oral presentation prize in the Research Scholars Symposium held as part of the National Science Day 2018 on February 28, 2018. She was one of the six students who was shortlisted for the final oral presentation from among the different research scholars nominated by different academic units of IIT Delhi. For symposium flyer, Click here.

GIAN course on Water Quality and Aquatic Toxicology

Prof. David Graham of the School of Engineering of Newcastle University, UK is offering a course under the Global Initiative of Academic Networks (GIAN) on Water Quality and Aquatic Toxicology during February 5-17, 2018 in the Department. For more information on the speaker, Click here.

Start-up from the department

Valetude Primus Healthcare (VPH), a technology spinoff from the department, was founded in 2015 to address the healthcare challenges prevalent in developing nations using innovative technologies made in India. VPH was founded by Saurabh Singh, Vikas Pandey and Ravikrishnan Elangovan, a faculty in the Department. Edited excerpts from an interview: click here News.

Outstanding Sportsperson of the year 2017

Mr. Rajeev Dahiya, Jr. Technical Superintendent in the department was bestowed with the Outstanding Sportsperson of the year 2017 award by the Institute for his commendable achievements in the 24th Inter IIT Staff Sports Meet. Photo

Our dual degree student Ms. Yoshita Agrawal (2012BB50050) was awarded the Director's Gold Medal for all-round performance amongst the graduating undergraduate class of 2017 in the annual convocation held on November 04, 2017. For more information, click here News.

Bioinformatics Workshop

GIAN course on Bioreaction Engineering

Prof. John Villadsen of the Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering of Technical University of Denmark is offering a course under the Global Initiative of Academic Networks (GIAN) on Bioreaction Engineering during October 9-17, 2017 in the Department. For more information on the speaker, Click here.

IIT Delhi shines in 33rd Inter IIT Aquatics Meet

Our dual degree student Mr. Dhritiraj Das (2013BB50011) has won 3 individual gold medals (100m freestyle, 50m freestyle, 50m butterfly) in the 33rd Inter IIT Aquatics Meet held during Oct 1-4, 2017 in IIT Madras. He becomes the fastest swimmer among all IITs in 2017. His dedication
and hardwork is unparalleled and ever-inspiring. Not only has he achieved this brilliant feat for himself, he has trained the team from scratch too, both in swimming and Water Polo. For more information, click here BSA, IITD.

Expansion of DAILAB to DAICENTER

Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Ministry of Science & Technology, announced the expansion of its first joint International laboratory with National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science & Technology (AIST) Japan named as DBT-AIST International Laboratory for Advanced Biomedicine (DAILAB) to DAICENTER by signing a contract on September 13, 2017 in line with the Indo-Japan Annual Summit held during September 13-14, 2017. DAILAB established in AIST and IIT Delhi has become a role model of India-Japan S&T co-operation and has helped many students in several ways. DAICENTER involves (i) new research projects on Translational and Environmental Research including Big Data in Biomedicine, (ii) new programs for educating and inspiring youth for science careers and (iii) new connectivity/bridge between universities-research institutes-industries at both ends to inspire innovation, application and industrialization of research for the benefit of society. For more information, click here News 1, News 2, Photo

Prof. Sunil Nath elected Fellow of INAE

Prof. Sunil Nath of the Department has been elected a Fellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineering (effective Nov 1, 2017) for his contributions to Engineering. Our hearty congratulations to Prof Sunil Nath for this well deserved recognition and best wishes for more distinctions. For more information, click here Announcement

Dissecting cancer

Research conducted in the laboratory of Prof. D. Sundar was featured in the Economic Times spotlight on May 14, 2017. The article was titled 'How a clutch of scientists at different labs in the country are researching in different areas of cancer, from detection to methods of invasion of the deadly cells'. For more information, click here Article.

Local Treatment of Urban Sewage Streams for Healthy Reuse (LOTUSHR)

Profs. T.R. Sreekrishnan and Zia Shaikh from the Department are leading the project on "Local Treatment of Urban Sewage Streams for Healthy Reuse" (LOTUSHR) for cleaning the Barapullah drain at Sarai Kale Khan, New Delhi. The Union Minister for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences, Dr. Harsh Vardhan laid the foundation stone to mark the beginning of the project on May 09, 2017. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, The Netherlands, Mr. Bert Koenders, the Lt. Governor of Delhi, Shri Anil Baijal, the Secretary, Department of Biotechnology Prof. K. Vijay Raghavan and other dignitaries also participated in the function. For more information, click here PIB news, DBT news, News 1, News 2.

Ashwagandha has capacity to deal with complicated cancers

Latest research conducted by Prof. D. Sundar in collaboration with researchers from AIST, Japan, indicates that Ashwagandha (or Withania somnifera - an Ayurvedic herb) can be a potential drug candidate for treating an aggressive form of cancer. For more information, click here News 1, News 2, IITD News .

IIT Delhi Alumni Award for best PG Poster

Dr. Sakshi Tewari, DST Young Scientist, working under the mentorship of Dr Shilpi Sharma, was chosen for the First Prize under PG category for her project entitled 'Enhancing nodulation and growth attributes of pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan) utilizing beneficial rhizobacteria, during the Open House celebrated by IIT Delhi on April 22, 2017. For more information, click here Award List, Webpage

IIT Delhi Research Cafe Seminar Series

The departmental faculty Dr. D. Sundar delivered a talk on "Rewriting the Blueprint of Life by Genome Engineering' as part of the 'IIT Delhi Research Cafe' Seminar series on April 11, 2017. The speakers for the Seminar Series are chosen from within IIT Delhi, who have an interesting scientific journey to share with the Institute community. The general emphasis of the talk is on sharing the story starting from inspiration for the research, challenges, overiew of the solutions attempted, success and failures. For more information, click here Flyer, Interview

International Biological Engineering Meeting

The departmental faculty Dr. Zia Shaikh and Dr. D. Sundar are invited speakers at the synthetic biology conference at JNU called 'International Biological Engineering Meeting (iBEM 1.0)' from March 26-28, 2017. The conference has talks on genome editing, cell factory, genome construction, synthetic life, enabling technologies, iGEM and so on. A new initiative called iBEC (Indian Biological Engineering Competition) for Indian students will be launched in this conference. For more information, click here link 1, link 2

Hands on workshop on CRISPR-Cas9 mediated gene targeting

Genome Editing by CRISPR-Cas9 has revolutionized the process of making DNA-level changes and the implications of this reach far beyond standard molecular biology applications. The CRISPR-Cas9 system can be used as a tool-box for editing, modifying, visualizing and interrogating genomes and can be adapted for numerous other applications depending upon the need of the researcher. At the workshop on CRISPR-Cas9 mediated gene editing, participants are provided with a hands-on training on how to use this technology for precisely manipulating their own targets starting from design to experimentation and subsequent analysis. The departmental faculty Dr. D. Sundar served as a Speaker/Instructor in this workshop held at IGIB during March 22-25, 2017. For more information, click here

Cost-effective test to detect typhoid in just 7 hours

Saurabh Singh and Vikas Pandey, two former students of the Department, mentored by Dr. Ravi Elangovan and Vivek Perumal, have developed a rapid diagnostic method for typhoid with a turnaround diagnosis time of seven hours. Tests available currently take over two days to arrive at a diagnosis. The newest diagnostic tool is simple to manage, portable and most importantly 'cost effective', making it a more viable option for the rural masses. The Pfizer-IIT Delhi Innovation and IP Program (PIDIIP) aligned with the the "Start-up India, Stand up India' national campaign helped the duo develop this test. . For more information, click here link 1, link 2

Participation in STS Forum meeting

The Indo-Japan joint laboratory DAILAB (DBT-AIST International Laboratory for Advanced Biomedicine) participated in the deliberations of the STS forum 2nd Indo-Japan Workhop held on Feb 28, 2017 in New Delhi. A special session on cooperation in Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology between India and Japan was organized as part of the workshop. Partners of DAILAB from IIT Delhi and AIST Tsukuba participatedi in the meeting. For more information, click here link 1, link 2

Longitude Prize Discovery Award for Dr. Ravi Elangovan

Dr. Ravikrishnan Elangovan and his team Valetude Primus have won this prestigious international award for developing 'SiMED' - a novel portable device for early-stage detection and categorisation of blood bacterial infection. At an award ceremony held in London at the Royal Society on November 21, 2016, members of the team were presented with the Longitude Prize Discovery Award. The Longitude Prize is a global science competition that will award 8 million GBP to a diagnostic test that helps solve the problem of global antibiotic resistance. It is being run by Nesta and supported by Innovate UK as funding partner. For more information, click here link 1, link 2

Departmental faculty to help clean Delhi drain

Prof. T.R. Sreekrishnan and Dr. Shaikh Z. Ahammad of the Department are heading the consortium of scientists from India along with scientists from The Energy Resources Institute (TERI) who have teamed up with Scientists from the Delft University of Technology, Wageningten University and the Vrije Unversiteit in the Netherlands to set up a network of sewage treatment plants that will clean wastewater in Delhi's Barapullah drain, which is reportedly responsible for 30 per cent of the pollution of the Yamuna. The 'Local Treatment of Urban Sewage Streams for Healthy Reuse' (LOTUS) project was inaugurated at Barapulla Sundial on September 08, 2016. For more information, click here link 1, link 2

DBT Unit of Excellence (UoE)

A DBT Unit of Excellence (UoE) for cancer research has been established in the Department in the year 2016.
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Pfizer Innovation Award

A startup by PhD students "Valetude Primus Healthcare Pvt Ltd" mentored by our faculty Dr. Ravikrishnan Elangovan has been awarded the inaugural Pfizer-IIT Delhi Innovation Resident Incubation (Idea to IP) Award. This program aims to support healthcare-based individual innovators/start-ups from idea to IP stage; with well defined technology objectives, roadmaps and significant commercial potential. The award was presented at a ceremony held on July 27, 2016 at IIT Delhi. This team has been recognized for developing a rapid diagnostics method for typhoid infection with a turnaround time of 5-7 hours. For more information, click here

Indo-Japan International Laboratory (DAILAB) inaugurated

In order to promote close and effective collaboration between India and Japan, the Department of Biotechnology of India (DBT), Govt. of India and National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST, Japan) had established a joint international research laboratory, named DAILAB (DBT-AIST International Laboratory for Advanced Biomedicine) in the Department on November 04, 2015. DAILAB is the first joint international laboratory of DBT and AIST in the field of Biomedicine. For more information, click here

Our undergraduate students win MIT prize

Our undergraduate student team won bronze medal in the annual international Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition helad at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Boston, USA during September 24-28, 2015. The team worked on developing a genetically engineered bacteria that may be the future solution for air pollution. For more information, click here link 1, link 2, link 3

A+ ranking for our teaching program

The B.Tech/M.Tech dual degree program offered by the department received the highest A+ ranking from the DBT Task Force on Human Resources Development in February 2015. The Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Govt of India is partially supporting this teaching program.

DST-FIST Grant

The department has received major funding from the DST under the 'Fund for Improvement of S&T Infrastructure (FIST) program again in 2015. The earlier FIST grant was awarded to the department in the year 2005.

Holy sites 'may offer clues to antibiotic resistance'

The Departmental faculty and researchers from Newcastle University, UK are studying how large gatherings of people in Rishikesh and Haridwar could become hotspots for the spread of the genes that cause antibiotic resistance. The river samples that Dr. Zia Shaikh analysed, showed that, when the amount human waste entering the river rises during May and June, levels of antibiotic resistance genes are up to 60 times higher. For more information, click here link 1, link 2, YouTube

PGPR Technology Transfer

A process technology for mass multiplication of PGPR strains developed under Biofertilizer network project sponsored by Indo-Swiss Collaboration in Biotechnology (ISCB) has been transferred to M/s. Nagarjuna Chemicals and Fertilizers Limited (NFCL), Hyderabad by Technology Advancement Unit (TAU) of DBT (on behalf of the investigators) in Nov. 2012. For more information, click here

DBT Centre of Excellence (CoE)

A DBT Centre of Excellence (CoE) for microbial production of designer polymers from renewable resources has been established in the Department in the year 2012.
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